Teenage Wasteland
by ErisChaos04
Summary: Piper and Danny grew up together in the same tiny settlement in the Commonwealth. They got to be quite close, and maybe you could even say they fell in love. But Danny's parents wouldn't have it. Years later, they ended up in Diamond City together. Danny hoped for a chance, but when a vault dweller showed up, Piper was infatuated. But, did it last?
1. Chapter 1

My name is Piper Wright, and I guess you could say I'm as normal of a teenager as a kid can be in the Commonwealth. By that, I mean that I am making it day to day, surviving, and protecting my kid sister, Nat, as best as I can manage. The post-apocalyptic, dystopian world just wasn't a very kind place to live, but I made do as best I could.

Oh god, there I go again, getting carried away with myself. It's a bad habit. I tend to get wrapped up in the moment and world around me. Let me tell you about myself.

I'm 16 and look after my kid sister (wait, I already mentioned that). Our dad met with an unjust and untimely death when I was 13. Long and short of it is, my dad uncovered the local mayor's corrupt plot. He had my dad taken care of, but I was able to get the word out to the community. The plan was, the gate was supposed to be "Accidentally" left open, and it would just so happen that there would be a raider attack that same night. Of course, the mayor was going to get a cut of the deal. Well, that night, the gate was open, and the raiders did show. But to their surprise was a swarm of pissed off and betrayed citizens. Not one raider walked away from the raid, and the mayor was strung up in the middle of town after he was dismembered and decapitated.

I made my first (several) kills that night. The town even gave me the honor of putting a bullet between the son of a bitch's eyes. They say blessed are the merciful, but I felt my vengeance was a far bigger blessing.

After that, it was just me and Nat. Mom abandoned us not long after Nat was born. I was 10, and had no idea bout babies. Dad was a champ, but let's face it: a man's body is made to feed a baby. It was hard keeping 2 kids fed. I even tried to keep myself taken care of to ease dad's burden. I don't know if it did help, but it showed me a lot about the adult reality of our world.

By the time Dad died, Nat was a chubby 3-year-old with a sharp tongue and attitude already. After my success of getting word out about the mayor's plan, I decided to be a reporter. It was bold for a 13-year-old, but we all start somewhere. I wrote about any and everything I could find out about and I sold each paper for a cap each. By the time Nat was 4, she demanded to help. I refused at first, but sales boomed when she helped. I think people bought papers out of pity. Nat was utterly adorable. I didn't question it; after that it was me and Nat, out to save the world.

Let's be honest though, this settlement was no place to make a life. Not for people like me and Nat. I'd heard stories about Diamond City: The Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth. My goal became to move there and start a newspaper. I already knew what I wanted to call it, too: Publick Occurrences. That was the first paper published in this state in 1690, almost 600 years ago. I thought it was a good name to restart a paper circulating in the Commonwealth with.

After I paid for food and clothes, the rest of the money I made from the paper was saved. It would be our token out of here.

So in the meantime, I also had to attend school. All kids did. The new mayor mandated it. It would be a great idea, if it wasn't so primitive. All kids, aged 5-18, were taught together in one room. It reminded me of the old books I read about people in the 1800's, when people moved west, this was all they had for school.

I was one of the oldest students, and was also the most bored. The teacher was barely older than me, and was a flat out idiot. I think I beat him up once or twice when we were kids. I could care less what he said.

There was one other student my age, Danny Sullivan. He was a quiet, red headed boy who barely had a spine. He was nice though, and was a good listener. He didn't seem to mind my rants and raves, or if he did, he never did let on. So I continued.

A few weeks into the year, I found out Danny liked photography. It was hard for him to pursue as materials were scarce, but the work of his I saw, I liked. He had a way of capturing images that brought things out the naked eye could never see. It was a gift.

"You know, Danny," I said, as we walked home after school one day, "We should work together and start a school paper."

"I dunno Piper," he answered, "My parents wouldn't approve."

"Oh forget your parents, Danny! Live a little!"

"Yeah Danny!" Nat, who was walking with us, chimed in. I smiled at her.

"It's not that easy for me. My parents are strict."

"And if you never stand up for yourself, they'll keep controlling your life. Do something for yourself for a change. Rove to them you can!"

"Alright Piper, fine, I'll do it," Danny finally conceded. I jumped up and down and clapped happily.

It wouldn't be easy. I had to hand type each edition of the paper, and several copies at that. We might be lucky to get one full set of relevant photos per paper. Maybe I would find a way to display them as I distributed the papers. Well, I could figure that out later. I had a photographer. Here comes the school paper! That was the important part. Details tend to work themselves out.

"How about you come over tomorrow after school, and we can start planning our stories! Maybe you can come help me with the city paper too!"

"One thing at a time, Piper," Danny said.

"Alright," I said.

Shortly thereafter, we got to Danny's home. We said our goodbyes, and Nat and I headed home.

I was extremely excited about everything coming up. So much so I could barely focus on my work for the city paper. I couldn't sleep that night either. I was ready to start brain storming with Danny. The next day couldn't get here soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

That's how Danny and I really got to be friends We had known each other for a long time, but I never got to know him. He was always the shy nerdy kid who sat in a corner by himself. But he was actually really cool and really smart.

I learned a lot about him. He was amazing at math, and had a knack for chemistry. That was part of why he liked photography. He loved developing pictures. He got lucky, our settlement had an old drugstore nearby. Danny found the photo lab and figured it out for himself. Purifying water was hard, so he couldn't develop often, but by the time he could do it, he had tons of rolls of film to work with.

I guess he figured this place out at about the same time my dad died. The outside of the drugstore looked awful, but inside was decently preserved. The more practical needs had been long since picked over, but the less necessary parts had remained almost untouched. Danny said he had gotten bored one day, and went exploring. The rest, as they say, is history.

His parents only knew a little about his hobby. They discouraged it, at any rate. I couldn't see how though; his work was fantastic! But, his parents were sticks in the mud like that. Maybe that's why he was always so nervous.

We were hanging out one day after school, doing homework and working on ideas for the paper. Mostly, we worked on the paper. Danny had gotten some pictures of the school "playground." It was in terrible shape, unsurprisingly so, but the fact no one tried to stabilize the equipment or ensure the kids' safety bothered me. Nat came home with scraped knees the other day because a chain on a swing snapped. I went back and checked myself and ALL of the swings were death traps. I told the powers that be, and know what they said? There's nothing they could do because they didn't have the supplies. When I asked why, I was told they were short the caps to afford it.

Well, we were all short the caps. But maybe, if we pulled together as a community, we could have enough to make the playground safe. I'm sure parents would be willing to help their kids be safe. So we got to work on an article.

A few days later, I was helping Danny develop some pictures for our article. It was mostly pictures of the run down equipment. Nothing unusual for damage done by atomic warfare, but it showcased the need for a better solution. I was hoping we could find that solution.

While I was thinking about my next steps with this project, I started being able to see what some of Danny's other pictures were. They were gorgeous! Mostly, random scenery, but no one had ever been able, in my opinion anyway, to make a wasteland look like a painting. But Danny did. It was incredible!

"I can't believe it!" I exclaimed, coming out of the dark room.

"What is it now?" Danny asked, his tone saying he was expecting me to go on one of my random tirades. I smiled a bit.

"Your photography," I said, "It's beautiful!"

"You really think so?" he asked. I nodded my head.

"I do, you really have a gift, Danny," I said.

"Well, thanks," he said, blushing, "no one has ever said that before."

"That's because most people around her wouldn't know a good thing if it bit them in the ass," I answered. Danny laughed a bit.

"Always a straight shooter," he said.

"Damn right!" I answered.

We worked a little longer until we heard Danny's mom shouting in the drugstore for him to come home for dinner.

"Shit, I haven't packed up yet," he said.

"Don't worry, I got it," I said, "get home before you get in trouble."

"Thanks Piper! I'll see you tomorrow!" he said.

"See you tomorrow!" I answered as Danny made his way out.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny and I got a ton of work done the next few days. I was able to hammer out enough copies of the paper on my old typewriter that all the kids had a copy to take home. Danny had enough pictures to show the class to prove my point. We even organized a town meeting to raise caps for a carpenter from a nearby settlement to come in and repaired what he could and also build brand new equipment.

As much as my teacher, Mr. Barnes, hated that I didn't do my school work (what, not like I had to think about going to college like kids my age did before the war), he was all for my campaign to rebuild a part of our school. We told the carpenter we could pay 500 caps for everything. He agreed. The teacher said the school had 250 already. We just needed to raise the difference and a little extra to keep from depleting the school coffers completely.

The night of the big town meeting, the teacher came up to me and said it was urgent.

"Give me just a second," Danny, I said, "Mr. Branes needs me. Keep the crowd calm."

"I'll try," he answered as I stepped over to Mr. Barnes.

"Piper, I normally wouldn't bother a student about this, but we have a problem."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"The school funds. They're short."

"Well, by how much?" I asked.

"100 caps."

I blinked in disbelief.

"100 caps?"

"I just counted last night, it was 250. Just now, it's 150. You can come check if you like."

"No, I believe you," I said, "but that is strange."

"I have no idea where it's gotten to. New playground or not."

"I understand," I said, "well, tonight let's hope we raise enough to keep some money there. Don't say a word. If they think anything is off, they won't donate."

"You have a good point," Mr. Barnes said, "good work on all of this, Piper."

"Thank you, Mr. Barnes," I answered, surprised I got a thank you.

"You're very welcome, Piper," he said, "now do what you need to get this going."

"Will do!" I answered before we headed back.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"100 caps are missing," I said.

"What?!" Danny said.

"SHHH! Keep it down! Maybe we can make it up tonight. If we let on there's a problem, it could backfire."

"Right," Danny said, "don't let on…"

There was something definitely off. Of course, part of me had to at least entertain the idea that Mr. Barnes was telling me just to throw me off. But, I doubted it. I was 95% sure there was something more sinister going on. I wasn't sure who was doing it, but it wasn't good at any rate.

But, on a positive note, the fund raised was a hit. We raised 400 caps! More than (they thought) we needed. We'd only have 50 left, but it was a start. Maybe, we can start a monthly fee, or due, to keep afloat, and fix other needs. I'm going to talk to Mr. Barnes later.

After the fundraiser, Danny and I helped clean up the school, made sure the funds were safe. The carpenter was coming in the morning to get to work Mr. Barnes volunteered to sleep at the school to monitor the safe overnight. Once everything was secured, Danny and I headed home.

"Tonight was actually a lot of fun," Danny said, "I'm glad we did this."

"I am, too," I said, "despite the setbacks, it was an overall success."

"It definitely was," Danny answered.

"We walked in silence for a minute, before he piped up again.

"I know it's late and you have Nat to get back to but, do you want to go down to the creek with me?" he asked.

"Well, sure, I guess," I said, "I can stay out a bit. Nat can get herself to bed."

"Cool," Danny said, smiling.

"There was a small creek not far from town. Close enough we could see the patrols, and far enough away that you could be alone. I went there a lot when I needed to be alone

We were quiet again as we walked passed the gates and into the forest. The sun had barely sunk below the horizon, casting the sky in odd and eerie shades of blue, purple, and green. We could still see, but there wasn't much time left until the sky turned dark.

"So…is this a date?" I asked, mostly just teasing Danny like I had a habit of doing.

"Actually um…yeah, kina, I mean if you want it to be, I was hoping you would…"

I just stopped and looked at Danny, as we sat down at the edge of the creek.

"You know I was teasing, right?" I said.

"I know, but…well…I…damn it, I'm not good with words like you are, Piper."

"Calm down, Danny," I said, "deep breath, it is just me after all."

"Yeah, well, that's the point. It's you. I like you…a lot. I had for a while, but since we've been working on the paper, and the fundraiser, things have well…changed for me."

A part of me thought at first, Danny just was trying to do what any teenaged guy did. That's why I teased him about it being a date but I could see in his face now, he meant it.

"You're not kidding, are you?" I asked.

"No Piper, I'm not," Danny said, "I always thought you were pretty, but you were annoying. You never stopped questioning everyone and everything, and never shied away from a fight. Now, I see why. You want to change things, and you did. And that's awesome. Not to mention, you're the first person to like my photography. Everyone else said it was stupid."

"Well…they're stupid," I replied, not sure what else to say. And that didn't happen often.

"Piper, come on, not now," he said, "I just told you my feelings and you know that's hard for me to do."

"I know, I just…Danny…no one's ever said anything like that to me before. Usually it's 'go away' or 'you're too nosy, leave me alone,' not 'I like you because you're crazy and stubborn.'"

"You said it, not me," Danny said, smirking.

"Hey!" I said, and playfully shoved him. He laughed. I shook my head, but smiled.

"I like you a lot too, Danny," I said, "You're the first person to really hear me out and give me a chance."

"I'm glad I did," he said, "You're great, Piper."

He startled me when he reached over to hold my hand. I didn't mind, though. I had been so focused on this fund raiser I hadn't realized the butterflies I felt around him, or that maybe half of why I enjoyed what we did was because it was with him. Sure, he could be timid, but this whole playground thing really brought a new Danny out. And I liked that Danny, a lot.

"Thanks, Danny," I said, "so are you."

He didn't say anything, he just smiled, and blushed a bit, before looking up at me. I don't remember the way things unfolded next, but I remember being in that awkward inching together stage, and trying to figure out whose head went which way, before he finally kissed me. And it was surprisingly nice. I could tell he was nervous, but it was still a good kiss. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did, and I was a little disappointed when he stopped. He pulled away, and looked at me.

"I hope that wasn't out of line," he said.

"Not at all," I said, "I wouldn't mind you doing that again sometime."

"Well, it'll have to be later," he said, turning his head. His mother could be heard shouting in the distance, "I have to get home."

"Alright," I said, "I'll go back with you."

"Thanks Piper," he said, "for…well…everything."

"You're welcome," I said, starting to get up so we could head home.

We talked, held hands, and flirted the whole way back. It was a nice change. I liked the idea of…me and Danny. He was a great guy, and someone I could trust. That meant a lot to me. In a world where we all have to look over our shoulders constantly, Danny wasn't like that. He was one of the good guys. I was lucky, and extremely happy, I had found one, and that he wanted to be with me. Between the fundraiser, and the kiss, I couldn't think of a better night to be had.

"Well, see you in school tomorrow," Danny said when we got to his parent's house.

"See you tomorrow," I said.

"Have a good night," he answered, giving me a hug before he went in. He snuck a kiss on the cheek, which made me giggle. I knew how his parents were, so I was happy with the gesture.

"You too," I said, as he went inside. When he was in, I headed back to my own place so I could get some rest from the eventful day as well.


End file.
